RIP: Remembering Ted V Mikels....a very independent filmmaker

RIP: Remembering Ted V Mikels....a very independent filmmaker

I have reviewed a bunch of his movies over the years. One of those, The Doll Squad is rated 3.7 at IMDb

According to IMDb's sort of his credits, that is not among his fifteen worst films.

His most famous effort is probably Girl in Gold Boots, which is on the IMDB bottom 100 and was once the subject of an MST3000 episode. Despite those credentials, even that hallowed cinematic masterpiece cannot claim the bottom spot on Mikels' filmography. He was involved in four films rated even lower, two of which he directed personally: Paranormal Extremes: Text Messages from the Dead, and Apartheid Slave-Women's Justice.

I have not seen those two and, god willing, never will, but I have seen The Worm Eaters, and I wish I had not. Mikels' involvement in that film was merely as a "producer," but it (and he) earned a special mention here since the Medveds' "Son of Golden Turkey Awards" nominated it in the special category of "worst promotional gimmick," said gimmick being an actual worm-eating contest at several city premieres.

The Medveds describe the scene as follows:

"In Kansas City, director-star Herb Robins stood in front of television cameras and hundreds of onlookers, and then proceeded to gobble down four eight-inch-long 'Canadian night crawlers' while producer Ted Mikels got away with only two. Meanwhile, Howard Hall, manager of a local bar, outdid them both by consuming eight of the wriggling critters -- all of which had been specially imported by the Minnesota Worm and Fly Company. This event proved such a success that the producers later staged a worm-eating contest in Las Vegas and offered free admission to anyone who ate a worm before entering the theater."